For members of Venezuela’s democratic underground, it’s just a matter of time before Nicolas Maduro, the country’s socialist dictator, is forced to step down.

“Civil society is no longer supporting Maduro, and bureaucrats are no longer doing what the government wants them to do,” said a longtime opposition leader who served time in jail for helping his countrymen vote.

The former political prisoner refused to be identified for fear of being rounded up by roving bands of paramilitaries sent by “an increasingly desperate Maduro” to crack down on opposition, he told The Post.

“I have to work without public exposure right now, or I risk going back to jail and not being able to do anything,” said the former opposition leader, who endured months in solitary confinement for his pro-democracy activities. He was released last year.

Still, he said he continued to work in secret, trading coded text messages with his fellow activists using Whats App — “the most secure way of communicating,” he said.

But despite being forced further underground, he said he was “elated” by the recent turn of events in Venezuela after the Trump administration officially recognized Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself the country’s interim leader after becoming president of the National Assembly.

“That recognition sent a big surge of hope among most of my countrymen,” the activist said. “It gave us renewed energy to continue fighting.”

As countries around the world followed the US example and continued to demand that Maduro make way for Guaido, opposition leaders are now holding secret meetings with envoys from Russia and China — countries that still support Maduro — to ensure that their investments will be protected once the dictator is ousted, the activist said.

They see this as a way to broaden international support — or at least tolerance — for a new government.

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But they are stopping short of seeking any outside military intervention.

“There has to be a national solution to our situation,” the opposition leader told The Post.

“We can’t afford to have a civil war here. That would be a disaster for us. It’s better to have a slower process but a national process to end this standoff.”

Last week Reuters reported that senior US government officials are in direct talks with the country’s military to convince them to back Guaido, who has offered soldiers amnesty to work against the Maduro government.

Guaido and his backers are working to prevent the military from blocking the distribution of tons of humanitarian aid that has arrived in the country from the US and Europe.

Nearly 90 percent of Venezuelans — a once wealthy country of 32 million — live in poverty, with hundreds of thousands lining up daily for staple items like rice, flour and corn. Hospitals lack urgent supplies and there are shortages of fuel and water, he told The Post.

“We are working to coordinate the distribution of aid now, but we need Trump to continue his pressure on the military,” he said.

“We are confident that Maduro is finished, and will leave for some other country that offers him exile very soon.”